Rainbow at Dawn
by MabuTashi
Summary: No matter how long he lived, no matter the things he saw, Sasuke Uchiha would never forget that one rain-stained, tear-stained night that sat heavily upon his heart and soul. That one stormy night when Three Things Happened. SasuNaruSasu AU.
1. Born of the Tears of Gods

Ohayo~! =D this is my first ever fanfic, so bear with me. =p That does not mean, however, that this is my first attempt at writing a story—that landmark passed a long time ago. xD So basically, I think anyone who chooses to read this should be in for a pretty swell ride (and also, please feel free to critique and point out all and any errors. =) )…assuming, of course, that I can stay focused long enough to actually take this anywhere. xD Soo~ if you actually want to read more, harass the shit out of me! Seriously, that is the only way there is any chance this will be updated. xD But still don't be surprised if I just suddenly drop this without warning or explanation someday when I get bored, 'kay? =p Enjoy anyway! =D After all, what's life without a little risk, amirite? xDD

Disclaimer: The only piece of _Naruto_ I own is the Sasuke poster hanging on my wall. xDD

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Chapter One: Born of the Tears of Gods

"_Heaven opened and the water hammered down…carpet bombing still, tea-colored puddles the way memory bombs still, tea-colored minds." – The God of Small Things, _Arundhati Roy

With one tiny fist, Sasuke Uchiha rubbed the sleep from his wide—still innocent—eyes. He had been up most of the night, again. Pacing. Back, and forth…back, and forth…over and over; just waiting for the sun to rise. For, by his eight-year-old logic, the boogeyman, embodiment of all that was wrong with the world, struck only at night. Terrible things, like the vague yet menacing concept of "death," only happened during the night; of that he was sure. In the bright, happy light of day, nothing could go wrong: The monsters under the bed all vanished, the boogeyman retreated, and Itachi came back. Sasuke threw open the blinds to the tiny window in the small, sterilized room and peaked out at the world—it had dawned grey.

He should have known the boogeyman had power over days without a sun.

Missing, in his childhood naivety, what he would later know to be a terrible omen, Sasuke took up his usual vigil on the single crappy chair between the two starched hospital beds. Everything was so clean in the hospital. It made him nervous—as if disturbing any of the perfectly cleaned and sanitized surfaces would upset some fragile balance that was keeping his parents alive—so he tried to take up as little space in the room as possible, touching only the chair and the window…and occasionally his mother's frighteningly still hand. Just to make sure she was still warm, still alive…

Sasuke swallowed hard and opened his book, picking up where he had left off the night before in a falsely calm voice. He was reading that particular book to his unmoving parents for the third time, because the doctor had told him the sound of his voice might help his parents to wake up. He had spent every day for the past six weeks reading aloud to the two still bodies, and every night pacing the halls, unable to sleep, both afraid the boogeyman would come and take his parents away and…alone.

He did not know where Itachi went at night. Usually he returned smelling strangely; a strong, bitter odor that Sasuke did not like. His eyes would be red, like he had been rubbing them too much or crying, but Itachi did not cry. "Drinking himself to death," the nurses would whisper, but Sasuke did not know what they meant. All he knew was that every night Itachi left him all alone in the hospital with their parents that the doctor had said might not ever wake up.

Sasuke sniffled and rubbed hard at his eyes, willing himself not to cry—Uchihas do not cry!—but he could feel the tears running soft down his cheeks anyway, salty and warm. Warm like Mother's hands when she used to comfort him and brush all the tears and pain and bad things away…

"Sasuke…" came the soft, gentle voice from right above his head, now bowed and shaking as he sobbed. Suddenly, the grey sky erupted, pouring down its godly tears against the little window. Sasuke looked up into the brazenly calm face of his brother, abruptly angry—angry at Itachi for abandoning him every night, at his parents for trying to leave him forever, at the world for trying to take them all away, at the doctors for not being able to do a damn thing about it.

Fueled by the sudden rage, he smacked Itachi's hand, probably intended to give comfort, away and surged to his feet.

"Shut up!" he screamed, the bitter frustrations and sorrow of the weeks finally breaking free in a wave of tears. Trembling, sobbing, leaking snot in the way only an extremely distraught child could, Sasuke Uchiha stood before his brother, finally at the end of what his child's psyche could endure.

Itachi merely stared at his wreck of a brother for one long, rain- and tear-filled moment. Then stiffly, reservedly, he placed a hand on his baby brother's shoulder. He could afford to allow himself nothing more than such a brief, un-consoling touch. He'd made up his mind. For the sake of Sasuke: The phrase played itself over and over in his head. For the sake of Sasuke. Resolutely, he turned his stiff and unyielding back on his precious little brother—so Sasuke could not see him cry.

"The driver's waiting outside," he said softly, voice utterly devoid of emotion. "Have him take you home. Go get some sleep."

"What? No I—" Sasuke started to protest in a loud, temper-tantrum way that brought Itachi to the verge of smiling despite himself. But he interrupted ruthlessly regardless, "I'm serious Sasuke." Then, unable to help himself, he turned around, the slightest of smiles tilting his lips, and poked his brother in the forehead.

"We'll all go somewhere together soon—all four of us. I promise," he assured calmly, tasting the lie. _Forgive me Sasuke._

Eyeing him doubtfully, Sasuke nodded slowly, his large dark eyes filled with an unquestioning admiration for his older brother that made Itachi's stomach twist into a painful jumble of guilt and self-disgust.

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Hm…So nothing seems to have happened in this chapter. xD And it's hopelessly short…but it just feels more right to end it here, and have Three Things Happen next chapter. So that's how it is. =p consider this a prologue

p.s. Itachiiiiiii. E777 Magical brain-washing crows ftw. Also, I E7 _The God of Small Things. _Everyone should go read that book. Nao. Lastly, about the title: I firmly believe that you can't ever actually know the title of a work until it's complete, so I'm thinking of this as a working title, though I rather like it. xD Why? Because it's an allusion to the single greatest BL manga ever written. It's called _Banana Fish _and you should probably go look it up. Immediately. Before you do anything else—like seriously, before you even breathe. It's that freaking important. xDD

p.p.s. I love long author's notes. xDD


	2. These Things Happen

Ohayooo once more. =DD So potentially we're looking at updates every other week if I stay motivated I think… [I have now decided this statement is a complete lie. xDD] I know what you're thinking, "so, mmk that was a lot longer than two weeks." Well shushhh. This week is an exception cuz I just moved into college. =D Oh and btw that two weeks thing is really tenuous…because my dorm is…well…Let's just say all you little childs out there _should _be very concerned about college, despite what anyone says to try to reassure you. xDDDDD

Oh and it hurricaned. That made for a pretty intense orientation. xDD Well anyway…on with the story then. =p

Oh! Though quick p.s.: You people that are viewing and not commenting, just want you to know, I see you. D Speaks with me I am lonely. DD=

Disclaimer: Idk...like…I don't own shit, kk? =D

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Chapter Two: These Things Happen

"_You are not alone, Ash. I am with you. My soul is always with you." – Banana Fish, _Akimi Yoshida

Curled up into a tight little ball and enshrouded in a coffin of warm blankets, Sasuke could almost forget all his worries. The only thing that could make his bed more comfortable, his sleep more pleasant and undisturbed, would be his mother reading him a bedtime story like she always used to do, before she got so sick. Before she went to sleep and never woke up.

Coma. To him it was a dirty word. Vague and frightening, with the taste of the unknowable all about it. Like "death."

_Why won't Mommy wake up, Nii-chan? Why won't she say anything? Why won't she move? Why, Nii-chan? Why?_

_Is everything going to be okay? Please say it'll be okay…please Nii-chan…_

Sasuke shivered in his state of half-sleep, a shiver that went deep into the marrow of his bones. His mind was filled with fantastical memories drifting behind his twitching eyelids, like clouds forming shapes for just moments in the sky. Mother stroking his hair, telling him Father was proud of him. Father watching, always watching, as Sasuke tried his hardest to impress him. Itachi carrying him home piggy-back. Why were they all trying to leave him behind?

In his sleep, Sasuke whimpered.

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When he woke, the lingering taste of a bad dream fading from his consciousness, the sun had begun its descent. Despite the sense of having had a nightmare, Sasuke felt more rested and at ease than he had in days. Itachi had been right, as usual, he had really needed some sleep—and some time away from the hospital.

The boy bounded lightly to his feet, stretching his arms into the air. For the first time in a long time he actually felt his age; it was a good feeling. With a yawn, he dressed and headed down to the kitchen to grab an apple from the fridge. He allowed himself to stand and munch for a few moments, enjoying his current rare carefree mood and the sweet taste of apple—when in such danger of losing everything, it was nice to appreciate the little things. Especially since he knew either the driver or the maid, who came once a week to clean a house that sat empty more often than not, had to have gone out of her way to purchase the fruit specifically for him.

With all the worries weighing down the minds of both brothers, Itachi had paid surprisingly little attention to Sasuke's need to eat, and, thinking about it now, Sasuke wondered if his older brother had eaten anything at all since their parents had first been admitted to Konoha General Hospital. Sasuke worried his bottom lip for a moment, concern overwhelming his thoughts as he considered the noticeable—even to an eight-year-old—decline in Itachi's health of late. He hoped, deep in the pit of his stomach from where he dared not give it life in conscious thought, that his beloved older brother was not coming down with the same illness that…

Swallowing hard, Sasuke disposed of the apple core and dialed the number for the driver, a skill that had been necessary to learn with his life and family at a very young age. Being the younger child of the ex-military chief-of-police of Konoha and the television chef acclaimed to be "the next Martha Stewart" was far from easy. All his life had been about image. The image of Mother on the TV, the image people saw of Father for "the sake of his political career"—that was a phrase he had heard a lot in his life. Mother always the perfect wife and hostess, Father always the stern and militaristic authority figure. Sasuke hated all of it. And now…Now it was only harder, because it all fell on Sasuke and Itachi to somehow uphold the all-important image of the Uchihas.

Itachi definitely was not helping that case anymore.

"Heading back to the hospital already?" asked the friendly voice of the driver after the second ring.

"Yeah."

"Alright then Sasuke…be there for you soon." He could sense the trepidation from the driver, but to work for the Uchiha family one accepted that there were to be no questions or hesitation, even if the order came from the youngest son.

As he stepped into the limo a handful of minutes later, Sasuke was glum, his thoughts still on his brother's rapidly deteriorating condition; their parents' illness seemed to have taken a lot from the older sibling. Itachi used to be the perfect child to suit his perfect parents: Straight A's always, athletic beyond belief, ever polite and sociable in company, able to handle situations like a well-versed politician. Way different from Sasuke, who seemed to be wholly unremarkable in any way, shape, or form. The only helpful attribute Sasuke was able to offer his parents was that some of their socialite friends seemed to think he was cute. Beyond that he was on the verge of uselessness.

But now, somehow, everything seemed to have reversed itself. Itachi was gone so often, both absent from his brother's side and invisible to the public eye, and now it fell to Sasuke to appear the perfect, collected, and well-adjusted child to assuage fears regarding the future of the Uchiha family. He had to make the world believe everything was not crumbling to tiny pieces even when it really was. That meant continuing to study hard and apply himself, even making public appearances in place of his brother, despite spending all his free time at the hospital, alongside his parents. All of it was starting to run him more than a little ragged.

And all this the driver, who liked to think she had played a bigger part in raising the boy than either of his parents (but perhaps not the brother), had observed with growing concern. A boy of a mere eight years, as far as she was concerned, should not be required to spread himself so thin merely to meet the demands of others.

"So how are you doing back there little Sasuke?" Uruchi Uchiha,* distant cousin of the substantially wealthier Uchiha couple, asked as her blue eyes,* brimming with concern and affection, looked back in the rearview mirror at the so small child. The only reply her genuine question received was a look so somber and sulky it looked utterly absurd on such a young, cute face. "Don't take so much on yourself, Sasuke," she added after a pause. "You can't take care of _everything_, especially at your age. It's all right to rely on other people."

"You, clearly, have no idea what it means to be an Uchiha," came the harsh yet desperate—needy—reply. Her poor little Sasuke…he just wanted to impress everyone. "I must depend only on myself! I don't need anyone else." The boy paused, contemplating. "Not even you."

Uruchi winced, feeling her heart thump hard against her chest in a painful, writhing sort of way. She and Teyaki had never been able to have children; Sasuke was the closest she had to a cute little baby of her own. _Usually they don't start hating their parents 'til the teen years, _she thought regretfully. But, she figured, Sasuke had been expected to grow up a lot faster than most kids…and if what Itachi had mentioned to her was true, it was only going to get worse. She felt a bitter pain, worse even than that caused by Sasuke's harsh words, twist her soul into a tight knot.

A bitter pain called fear…

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Sasuke sat glumly in one of many starched white waiting rooms of Konoha General, kicking his feet back and forth across the surprisingly colorful carpet that seemed so irreconcilably out of place in the colorless hospital. He had gone up to his parents' room to find Itachi standing outside in a very intense conversation with a doctor in a white coat, a worried-looking nurse standing nearby with fluttering hands. His brother had caught sight of him immediately, given a brisk command to the nurse, and spun on his heel and left, the doctor hurrying behind, without even looking Sasuke in the eye. The nurse had walked briskly to him, changing her face from concern to false smiles, and led him to the room where he sat now, telling him that he could not go see his parents right now, but while he was waiting someone would love to play with him for awhile. In a near-panic, Sasuke had questioned the nurse as she dragged him away, but he could get no answers from her calmly, dumbly, smiling face. He was about to make a break for the door and go into his parents' room whether he was supposed to or not just to know for himself what was happening when…

He walked in.

Suddenly, everything seemed so less urgent. Everything calmed. Sasuke even almost started to smile before he caught himself. A ball of sunshine had literally just walked into the room. Being anything but at ease and even happy was impossible around someone so obscenely joyous.

The boy in question was scrawny, filthy, and was complaining loudly with his hands thrown in the air for emphasis—until he saw Sasuke and broke into the biggest grin the Uchiha had ever seen, the cause of the abrupt settling of Sasuke's racing thoughts. The old man that had evidently led the blond boy there with as much force as Sasuke had suffered grinned as he looked over the two boys.

"Hm…yes, you two should get along just fine," He said, then added in darker tones, "and Naruto, keep outta my way for ten minutes for a change while you two amuse each other." With that he left, his face wrinkled in a good-natured smile the whole while, the boy he left behind sticking out a tongue at his back.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" the blond punk, spinning energetically back around again, exclaimed with way too much enthusiasm for Sasuke's tastes.

"Sasuke Uchiha," he replied calmly in a tone that was far more appropriate, or so he felt.

And that was how it all started. That was when The First Thing Happened: That was how he, Sasuke Uchiha, met the boy that would save his life. Naruto Uzumaki. A name he would never, even for a second, forget, not even in his darkest moments.

The boy in question approached him now, holding out his hand in a characteristically friendly and welcoming gesture that Sasuke would greatly come to appreciate in the coming years. But of course, his Uchiha pride stopped him, now as always, from accepting the gesture and he rose without assistance. Naruto stuck his tongue out at the tenacity, Sasuke replied in kind, and together the two children took off to wild adventures within the walls of the hospital that had been the blanched white prison of both.

"Mmk Sasuke, so we're ninjas and we gotta rescue a pretty princess that was kidnapped by bad ninjas!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, annoyed that there were no such thing as ninjas and princesses—the youngest Uchiha lived in a very pragmatic world. "Whatever, dope."**

"Shuddup bastard and follow me!" Naruto yelled indignantly as he took off down the hallway.

Sighing reluctantly, Sasuke followed.

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Crouching behind a stack of boxes in a utility closet, Sasuke Uchiha waited, his eyes fixed on the door, ears straining for the sound of the approaching klutz that was his playmate. From the wrestling that had taken place in the room of a coma patient (from where they had been kicked out by a very angry nurse), Sasuke knew that physically the other boy was stronger. But the Uchiha had the advantage of his private-school-groomed mind.

He had decided the best strategy for stealing back the paper weight in Naruto's pocket (representing, of course, the magical stone required to save the princess from Sasuke's evil clutches—how Sasuke had ended up the villain he was not sure but he did not mind it too much—which had been stolen from him in said coma patient's room) was to catch him by surprise. And the blond looser had to enter this very supply closet in order to reach the princess.

So Sasuke waited…and as the door slowly opened, he was about to spring his trap and tackle the other boy to the ground, when he stumbled to a halt from his near-lunge: Standing at the door was not Naruto but the old guy from earlier (with a very disappointed looking Naruto peeking around him).

"Playtime's over, I'm afraid. Sasuke, I need you to follow me. Naruto, my boy, why don't you go get some lunch?" His face was still gentle, but his words had hardened. Sasuke obeyed—Naruto as well, though with far more complaining.

The aged hospital official (of some kind, though Sasuke had no idea who he was and would only later learn he was none other than Sarutobi, chief-of-medicine) led him away, distinctly professional. Sasuke's specifically groomed instincts did not miss it for a moment—something bad was in the air.

Itachi was waiting for them inside the room in which their parents slept, unmoving. He turned shockingly cold and indifferent eyes toward his little brother and nodded at Sarutobi, who left the two alone together amidst the quietly working machinery, the only things keeping Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha alive.

Itachi looked in his beloved younger brother's eyes for a long, still moment. Sasuke could feel the tension humming in the air, but he did not understand it. He knew something terrible was about to happen, but he had no idea…

Itachi, stooping down to the place where all the electrical cords met, reached forth and, with one quick movement of his hand, murdered their parents.

Sasuke watched it happen, eyes widening in horror, a shout dying somewhere in his throat. They were going to wake up! Of course they were! Why would Itachi ever do something like this? Why would he turn off the machines? Their parents were just sleeping! They were going to wake up and everything was going to be okay and just like it was except better and Itachi said they were going to go all together somewhere and Father was going to see how hard Sasuke had been trying while he was asleep and he would be grateful and proud and Mother would smile and everything would be good! Perfect! Everything would be absolutely perfect like Father and Mother always wanted but now Itachi had ruined it! He had killed them!

"Itachi…why?" Sasuke uttered, barely audible but all he was able to manage as thunder exploded inside his head to match with the growing storm outside. "Nii-chan…I don't understand…"

"There's nothing to understand, Sasuke," Itachi said, like ice. "But then, you always were a little stupid. They were never going to wake up, you idiot. I've done us all a favor."

"No…" Sasuke whispered, but Itachi was not even listening. He was leaving! Leaving Sasuke behind with their murdered parents! All alone… "Wait, please…"

"Shut up." The door slammed behind his brother with an unerring finality. Sasuke stared at it for a long moment, the whole world spinning in wild rapid circles around him, everything blurring and fuzzing and everywhere. Then he ran.

The rain was cold against his skin, the tears of the heavens. Itachi was there, standing outside, waiting for the car to come. Sasuke screamed against the wind whipping the rain into an angry fury and against the fury growing inside himself.

"Onii-san! Please! Tell me why!"

Itachi looked toward him, calmly, uncaring, the rain blurring the lines of his face and body as if he was already fading from the world, from Sasuke's life. The angry clouds above broke for just that moment, letting the moonlight shine down and reflect against the rain on Itachi's face—and off the ice in his eyes.

Then he was gone.

Sasuke had met Naruto.

Itachi had killed their parents.

Itachi had left.

That was the night those Three Things Happened that would forever change his life, that night filled with rain and tears. Tears that would give way to anger that would give way to hate that would devour the memory of that First Good Thing until it was all but forgotten, nothing left but a pair of blue eyes staring out from darkness.

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Snippets rose gently to the surface of his awareness: Water dripping from his bangs, the cold hospital floor beneath him (had he wandered back inside?) as he huddled against a wall, blue eyes, a soft hand, "Why are you crying? Bastards like you don't cry."

_You don't understand! You'll never understand!_

The old guy again, voices, lots of voices, all of them trying to get rid of him. Sasuke Uchiha, unwanted child. The blue-eyed idiot, staring at him. Talking but no words. Mouth moving but Sasuke could hear nothing, just a constant rush of Everything roaring against his eardrums. What was he saying? It felt important, but Sasuke couldn't make himself listen.

Rain, rain, rain. Pounding against his face, drenching him to his soul. Clinging. He was outside again, running. Home. Empty home. He crawled into his bed, pulled up the covers, and stayed. He remained. All was gone but he remained.

_Rain, rain, go away…_

People came. They brought food. He ate almost nothing. They left him alone.

The sun rose, the sun fell. It cast its fire against his squeezed tight eyes, but he ignored it. He ignored everything, shut it all out, wrapped himself in his blankets where darkness and death and the boogeyman could not get him.

And he hated.

He hated the world that had made him play its stupid little game when in the end none of it even mattered and people died anyway. He hated all the people that pretended to care by bringing him food but would not even notice if he starved. He hated everyone at the hospital that had let Itachi kill their parents. And he hated Itachi. With everything he had, he hated his brother.

Sasuke curled into a ball as tight as he could underneath his warm covers. He wanted to die. He wanted to disappear. But he could not.

Because Itachi lived.

Days passed, the sun rose and fell casting fire and shadows. And Sasuke's hate grew. Finally, it grew bigger than the anguish that had almost drowned him and he chose to drown himself in hate instead. He got up, fueled by hate enough to fight against the grief. He got up.

In the kitchen, laying harmlessly on the counter, he found the notes from the driver and the maid. They both regretted to inform they would be unable to return to work. He was unsurprised, apathetic beyond the point of being moved. He had already lost everything, of course that would include the two women who had taken care of him when…_he _could not. Next to their notes he found the carelessly written number of the person who apparently would be raising him now that everyone else was gone. With a sneer he crumpled all three pieces of paper and tossed them in the trash.

Sasuke Uchiha needed no one.

Finally having regained the slightest hint of an appetite (though mostly he hungered for something food could not give), Sasuke opened the fridge. Unfortunately, he seemed to have been curled up in bed for longer than he thought, and his new "caregiver" had not thought to purchase food.

Everything in the refrigerator had long since gone to hell, including, he saw, the barely touched bag of apples.

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Wow…So I think the genre of this story just became Angst, with more Angst. xDDD Well the darkness in this series has always been my favorite part. =p or maybe more rightly how the darkness interacts with the light?

* Uruchi is the aunt from Sasuke's flashbacks, look it up. xDD About the blue eyes…Shuddupp. im creating parallelism okayyyy. D

** Random insertions of Romanji annoy me, so I will be using English substitutions, sorry. =p I used "dope" here instead of the anime's usual "looser" because I wanted the one-syllable sound and it has a nice visual similarity to "dobe." On a side note, would an eight-year-old use the word bastard? Since it is the rebellious little punk Naruto, I'm going to go ahead and say the answer is yes. xDD Oh though I think I will make an exception for "nii-chan" just cuz I love that phrase so much. xDD

Hmm…so somehow I get the feeling that this chapter really sucks. xD I feel like it seriously suffers from an inability to establish consistent tone or something. Oh well, hopefully any future chapters will be better. =p


	3. Another Born of Hell's Clean Flames

Umm…So I kinda just realized what a big undertaking this is under my original plan…I actually started writing this fic just because I thought of the whole "pulling the plug thing" (and more that goes with that) and it seems no one is ever able to incorporate the whole murdered clan thing into a AU story organically, so I wanted to give it a try. Then I was thinking I'd just kinda continue to do the same thing…follow along major events and present them as realistically and inventively as I could in a modern western world (with a *slightly* more narusasu angle—only slightly because I mean, common. We all know it's practically cannon. xDD)…but I was just looking through a few possibilities for opening quotes and I realized…a freaking lot of shit happens in _Naruto_. Oo So now I'm not really sure…You tell me, what angle should I take with this? And, most important, =p, how slowly can I take this before you all get pissed at me and start begging for some action? (Because I'm about 70 percent on taking this fic to an M level at some point, though I've decided to leave it T for now because I like lots of development (sci-fi/fa nerd at heart. xDDD), but do be advised. =p) Sorry, this is so long. =p I'll shuddup now, and if I have more meaningless things to say I'll just throw um in at the end. xDD Hey, at least it's making this chapter look longer right? xDD

Disclaimer: As of now, I do not own any part of _Naruto. _But when Kishi-sensee and I are married (we're soul mates yah know. And that's not creepy at all. xDD) I'll make sure he signs over some of the rights to me. xDDD

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Chapter Three: Another Born of Hell's Clean Flame

"_No, I loved watching you. Because that's who you are, Zuko: Someone who keeps trying even though it's hard." – _Ursa, _Avatar, the Last Airbender_

**Five years later…**

_Dear Sasuke, please stop staring at me like I'm something you'd like to scrape off the bottom of your shoe, 'kay thanks. _

Naruto Uzumaki, 13-years-old and damn well determined to make it to high school rather than get held back _again_, did _not _need this kind of fucking pressure from that damn prick across the room staring at him like he was some particularly bizarre beetle with two heads. (Though, actually, that was a lot better than the looks he got from everyone else).

"Narutooo, hello? You can start anytime."

Naruto swallowed hard. He could feel Mr. Iruka staring him down—it was making all the hairs on his neck stand up for crying out loud!—and he could see all the snickering faces of his so-supportive peers. And as much as he wanted to tell them to stuff it up their asses by whipping out the most amazing oral presentation any of them had ever heard, _he couldn't remember a damn thing. _

_I am so screwed._

"We're waiting, Naruto," Iruka commanded from his desk, voice all teachery. (But Naruto could still pick up the notes of concern and he found it extremely comforting. At least Iruka had his back).

Urgh—for crying out loud! He had practiced this speech for hours, honestly! Why couldn't he think of anything to say? Maybe if he just winged it…

"Naruto! Come on already, just fail so that the rest of us can go!" Not you too Sakura-chan! "I know I would really like to hear Sasuke-kun's speech…" Her eyes all big and flirty while she says that, getting all up close to him…Who the hell does that bastard think he is anyway? Always so high and mighty like he's better than everyone else! And what's with that cold look anyway? Somebody should teach that bastard a lesson…

So Naruto, of course, got right up in said bastard's face. He narrowed his eyes up real tight and stared that cocky son of a bitch right into those cold eyes. And Sasuke just stared back with that blank poker-face stare.

_Dammit, doesn't this guy have any emo—_

Well that got him to widen his eyes at least.

Naruto's arms pinwheeled wildly as he was suddenly thrust forward by a very ill-timed and far over-dramatized gesture from one of his classmates—_for crying out loud, Tobie! We all heard about the damn fish, and no it was not "this big," besides, shouldn't you be paying attention to other people's presentations right now? _(Not that he was actually presenting but that was beside the point)—and landed smack against none other than that Uchiha and his slimy worm lips (_why couldn't it have been Sakura-chan!). _

"Get off me you weirdo!"

"God bastard it wasn't like I did that! It was this freakin' dumb ass's fault!"

And ensue chaos. The entire class was in a glorious uproar of laughter, shouts, and general childish glee. And through it all that bastard Sasuke was just glaring away like it was all completely Naruto's fault while that freaking Tobie had the balls to sit there and look like he had no idea why Naruto was shaking him by the front of his stupid shirt, the whole while Mr. Iruka standing up front flapping his hands and calling out in his soft-voiced effort to calm things back down. Though of course, it did not take Iruka long to reach his breaking point, and the whole room finally quieted as "SHUTUP AND SIT DOWN!" echoed alarmingly throughout the classroom.

As everyone resumed pretending to pay attention, most still snickering and whispering crude comments under their breath, Iruka ran a tired hand over his face and looked at Naruto between his fingers with one weary eye.

"So Naruto, do you have anything for us or is it going to be another year of wonderful antics from you?"

Naruto glared at his teacher for a moment, his eyes scrunched up and his mouth drawn down in a sulk.

"Just give up, Looser," from the ice-cold bastard, "how could a hopeless failure like you ever hope to graduate anyway?"

Naruto opened his mouth to make a totally quick-witted and brilliant reply to Sasuke when, from across the room:

"Yeah, we all know what you really are, yah freak!"

"Now please—" Iruka tried to regain order, but the cruelty of children, once stirred, is hard to reel back in.

"That's right! With parents like that, how could he ever be anybody?"

"Everyone! Think about—"

"What parents! They're dead—got what they deserved, my mom says!"

"What you're saying!"

"Pah, it's no wonder he acts like an untrained dog!" Sa…Sakura-chan? Naruto could feel the betrayal and the years of buried pain and hate beginning to work its way to the surface. "He never had any parents to tell him how to behave himself. He's just like a spoiled brat!"

Naruto was standing very, very still. The world was spinning in strange ways around him, whooshing at his eardrums. Iruka's face was a dangerous red, his mouth was open and he was about to scream some respect into these ungrateful brats, when aid came from an unexpected source.

"You're annoying," the Uchiha said, softly but in a voice laced with enough murder to make the room dead silent in an instant. "You're all so annoying. You have no idea how he feels. You don't know anything." Several students in the room audibly swallowed. Iruka blinked, taken aback by the sudden burst of words from the usually silent boy.

Around Naruto, the world seemed to still again. He looked up slowly and met the eyes of Sasuke Uchiha, a vague memory stirring in the back of his mind as they locked gazes for a brief moment before Naruto looked away, embarrassed.

"Thanks, Sasuke."

"For what? I didn't say it for your sake. They were making too much noise."

"Whatever bastard."

"Shut up looser, who would do anything for you?"

"That…That's enough you two," Iruka interjected awkwardly, trying to redeem his position as authority figure. "That's enough for today. Everyone who hasn't gone yet prepare your presentations for tomorrow." As the room became a swell of chairs scrapping and chatter, Iruka added "Naruto, my office."

_Dammit._

—

—

Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

Naruto sat in Iruka's small little crappy middle school teacher office swinging his legs back and forth and listening to the clock strike a rhythm on the wall.

"Naruto. How many times have we been through this? Do you really want to stay in middle school forever?"

Naruto stubbornly glared to his left, refusing to look towards Mr. Iruka sitting behind his desk. Iruka sighed, long and tired.

"Naruto…" Iruka drifted off, staring at his most troublesome student for a long, quiet moment. Flames licked uncontrollably at the teacher's memory—but at the same time he saw a lonely little blond punk facing the ire of the world without a friend at his side. Iruka had long ago come to terms with what had happened all those years ago. Such a pity the rest of the world did not seem to be able to do the same.

"Can I go yet, Mr. Iruka?" The sulkish boy asked, and the man too old for his age sighed deeply.

"Fine Naruto, but this time tomorrow I want you to present your project to me—And it'd better be the best damn thing I've ever heard."

"Butt Mr. Irukaaaa," the boy whined, "tomorrow is Saturdayyy."

Why did he even bother giving this brat more chances? A vein in his temple twitched as he raised his voice, "Look you little ingrate, you should be on your hands and knees thanking me for even giving you this chance after all the trouble you cause me!"

Naruto looked callously to the side, still sticking his lip out in a pout, but Iruka caught the hint of guilt and apology in his muttered "Fine."

"Good," the teacher breathed, hoping he might have finally, finally, made some progress with the little brat, "Now go home, don't do anything stupid, and please, _please_ be prepared for tomorrow."

An arrogant "yeah yeah yeah," was, of course, the only reply he received, thrown over his shoulder even as Naruto pranced right out of the room without even a "thank you" or "see you tomorrow" or at least a "goodbye…" Iruka rubbed his tired face and thanked God he had made it through another day as a middle school teacher.

—

—

Sasuke Uchiha knew the story of course. The fire, all the dead bodies adding up, the suspicion. But even more, he knew his own story. His own dead bodies. And one living person that should have died back then too.

What could the rest of those idiots possibly know about the pain of not having a family? But Naruto…maybe he understood. Maybe just a little…

Maybe…just maybe…they were the same.

—

—

Sakura blushed fiercely as she assaulted the pavement with her feet on her way home. How dare that blond-haired looser embarrass her in front of Sasuke like that! _Everyone knows he's just as worthless as his no good parents. The world's better off with them dead…_

…Sakura swallowed, feeling the guilt creep up her throat. _No, no fine, I take it back, _She thought glumly as she kicked at the pavement. Stupid Naruto, making her feel bad for other people…

—

—

Naruto stared intently down at the small, dark-haired figure hunched over at the end of the dock, his face scrunched up in concentration. Why had that bastard defended him? Personally, Naruto had always thought they had a lot in common and had wanted to be friends…but _that _bastard had made friendship impossible! So Naruto had decided to become rivals instead…but now Sasuke was sticking up for him? In all Naruto's life, no one had ever stuck up for him, except maybe Mr. Iruka, and it just did not make sense! Especially not from Sasuke. Sasuke was selfish. Sasuke was anti-social. Sasuke did not help other people.

So why had he stuck up for Naruto? Why, when everybody else hated him? Naruto did not know why he was hated, why people looked at him with that painful expression in their eyes, but he knew that was how it was—and he knew it was up to him to change it. That was why he was going to become someone important, so everybody would look up to him and acknowledge him!

But why did Sasuke, of all people, already look at him as if he were a person? Not a particularly desirable person, but, still, _an actual person._

"Jeeze, what's that guy's problem anyway?" Naruto muttered as he threw his hands behind his head and turned away, remembering that first time he had seen Sasuke, sitting all alone on that pier. Or had that been the first time? He could not remember very well, but it seemed like he had been running into that Sasuke kid his entire life. Well, if that was the case he definitely was not going to let Sasuke move on to high school and leave him behind! That would be like letting Sasuke win—unacceptable! Naruto picked up the pace and jogged back to his apartment, determined to write the best damn speech in the history of mankind that was even better than the first one (never mind that he had been unable to even memorize the first one anyway…)

"Hey it's that kid…"

Naruto continued straight ahead, refusing to let it bother him.

"Oh yeah…weren't his parents the ones?"

"Yeah that's the one. The bastard son that this whole town has gone through so much trouble for."

"God, some people think that just 'cause they have money they can run us around however they want—even from the grave!"

"It's really for the best they died, even that kid is probably better off withou—"

"Shuddup about my mom and dad!" Naruto shouted as he spun around. Normally he would never say anything, but today he was at his limit! Mocking him was one thing, but when people brought up his parents! The old man had told him they had died like heroes, and he was not going to let some ignorant ass holes ruin their name, dammit!

The people around him faced him with surprise at his sudden outburst, but one cocky, booze-addled fellow had the balls to smirk in his face.

"Ah that's right," the guy said, his breath reeking. "You don't even know about that do yah? Why, half this town lost their lives because of you and your damn parents, and more of us got to stand by and watch our homes burn, nothing to do about it! You know what it's like boy, watching your house, the home you spent years building, burn? Having to redo everything from the beginning, but now your family's dead and you ain't got nobody? You have any idea what that's like? What we all went through for your sake?"

"Miki…You'd better watch it. He's just a kid after all…" the drunk's companion warned gently, but Miki continued undeterred.

"And it's all their faults, the rich bastards! Just couldn't get enough, so had to do business with them gangster revolutionary folk! Look what came of it! Nuthin' good ever comes of greed and murder. You remember that kid, maybe you'll turn out better than your good fer nothin' parents."

"What…are you talking about?" Naruto asked softly, feeling fear uncoil in his belly. People had died because of his parents?

"Miki, lay off 'im."

"Nah! Doncha hear him? The kid wants to know! 'Bout time someone told him the truth of his heritage. Truth is, Brat, you had people that hated you from the day you were born. Why? You've got a demon in you, Boy, a demon gift from your parents. You know what it is, Kid? It's your legacy. Blood money. All of it. That's what your parents left for you."

"Really, Miki, that's enough…"

"I don't get it…"

"Alright then, I'll say it real slow. Your. Parents. Killed. People. To get their money. Innocent people, people with lives and homes and families. Killed 'em dead!"

"Miki! Stop!"

"Then they brought their troubles on us! Had a kid, and, yah see, these unsavory types they'd been working with and probably ripping off, they saw this kid as a chance to get even. Kidnapped him. Your parents, they didn't like this much and, yah see, in their world nothing was more important than their own brat. Not a care for other people's kids and other people's families. They saved your scrawny little ass somehow, Kid, but it cost them their lives to do it…and somehow this fire got started…"

"There was this dinner that night…" It was Miki's friend telling the story now, his face distant and pained. "It was so hyped as this everybody-who's-anybody thing…" He drifted off, remembering talk of presidential candidates, expensive wine. The glitter of diamonds. His wife in her new designer dress. "There were way too many people in that house; when the fire spread they panicked, the doors got blocked, people were trampled as everyone started to panic…"

A crowd was gathering, solemn and still.

"They burned boy! People burned alive because of you and your parents!" Miki was crying now. Sobbing as he remembered the night that haunted a little affluent suburb town.

"There were cars parked all over the place, the fire trucks couldn't get to them in time…We never thought…We never thought something like that could happen…"

Faces, all around, from all sides. Watching him. Condemning him. The taste of their memories burning on their tongues.

"And it only did because of _them!"_

The world was shaking, the world was burning. Because of his life, in order to save his life, others had died.

"That's ENOUGH!"

Naruto jumped at the sudden shout and spun around to see a very angry looking Iruka standing behind him. The world grew still again.

"Mr. Iruka?"

"Wuzza matter Iruka? Your parents died that night too, didn't they!"

Naruto's expression must not have been very good, because Iruka winced apologetically as he looked down at him.

"Sorry Naruto…"

"Whaddare you apologizing to him for? He should be the one that's sorry!"

"No, you're wrong." Iruka reached down and rested a gentle hand on Naruto's head. "This kid here…He's had to deal with a lot of pain, and all alone. Partially because of people like you, who don't understand anything. Moreover, I guess it's my fault too: I should have been around a lot more. I should have done a better job of making sure you weren't hurting all alone, Naruto. I'm really, really sorry."

"What are you talking about? That kids the one that caused suffering, not the victim! You hate him too, don't you?"

Naruto swallowed hard. Could Iruka…actually hate him? Just like everyone else?

"Naruto…Had nothing to do with that. How can you really blame what happened back then on someone who was just born? Whatever kind of people his parents might have been, whatever life Naruto might have been born into, Naruto is Naruto. Nothing else defines him other than what he wants to be!"

Naruto looked up to his teacher with wide eyes. "Mr. Iruka?" Those words…They had not sounded like hateful words.

"It's alright Naruto, why don't we go grab some ramen before you get started on that speech for tomorrow?"

"But Mr. Iruka…your parents…all those other people…"

"Don't even worry about it Naruto—You are one of my most precious students, and that's what matters, not the mistakes other people have made in your name in the past. Right now you're you; and although you're slow at times and not very diligent, I know that one day you'll become greater than anyone. Because you're Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto blinked slowly as he stared up at his teacher, slowly breaking into a grin, feeling wet on his cheeks. "Yah really think so?"

"Well…If you ever manage to graduate my class I suppose," Iruka assured, with a grin of his own (and maybe just one or two tears).

"Awww mann!" Naruto threw his hands into the air in frustration and Iruka could not help but laugh a little. He felt very sure, somehow, that Naruto was going to make it this year.

Miki stared after the boy for a long while, remembering and thinking. Forgetting is a very, very hard thing, he decided. But at the same time, there had been a nice spark in that kid's eye…something that made Miki feel a little bit hopeful for the first time in a long time. Maybe it was all about passing on the world to the next generation like that mayor was always preaching…Well, with that Naruto kid around, the kids would not just be sitting on their asses waiting for things to happen, that was sure! _Yeah_…Miki smiled, just a little. _Maybe_ _we'll be able to trust the world to those brats after all… _

—

—

From across the street, Sasuke Uchiha frowned. No. No, Naruto was not like him after all.

Sasuke walked home, alone.

—

—

The start of a new school year! Naruto was rocking back and forth on his heels, finally in high school! He did not actually even remember what his speech had even been about (probably ramen) but Iruka had passed him! Now he was waiting with all the other incoming freshmen to read the list of service project groups…He did not even know what the groups were for, but he was about to be part of something high school-related! As if it mattered what it was.

_Uzumaki…Uzumaki…Uzumaki…There!_

"Mr. Kakashi's Team Seven: Uzumaki, Naruto…"

And right under his name…Sakura-chan! Naruto could have cried for joy. Could his life get any bett—dammit. Just like always that bastard had to go and ruin everything…

"Don't get in my way, looser," Sasuke commanded icily, having also just read his name under Sakura's.

"As if I would!" Naruto retorted. "You just try and keep up with me!"

It was going to be a long four years.

—

—

P.S. To the lovely greenbeach4, yaaay~ I'm so happy you liked my story at least a little. xDD It'd be more helpful if you reviewed, but that's alright. =p And to you over 100 amazing visitors and the over 150 hits you have given me for just two ridiculously short and stupid chapters, I love you all as well. xDD

So here's the deal guys: Whoever breaks the ice and reviews first gets to be my best friend forever, even if they just tell me I suck at life. xDDD

Oh and I'm allowed to drop the eff bomb just once or twice with a T rating right? Oo

And I know I'm babbling way too much, but…I was reading old manga chapters for events to base this chapter around…the drawing style used to be so different! xDD like seriously, everyone should go look at Sasuke from the first volume right now. Go, go! It's so cuuuuteee. xDD Buttt anyway, I reallllyyy have to practice my hiragana now, so I'll stop wasting everyone's time. xDD Do please give me feedback on what you want from me though, I'd love to hear it. =)

BTW: That white haired guy that actually tells Naruto about the kyuubi annoys me (whatever his name is. xDD)…so I cut him. xDD enter random drunk guy that I named Miki because he was originally Mike, but that looked weird next to "Naruto" so I changed it. xDD but...is Miki a girls name? I have no idea. xDD well…if it is, just use that for motivation of why he's such an angry guy I guess. xDDD


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